WEBVTT - Hakeem Jeffries Talks Healthcare costs, Redistricting 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:07.040 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:10.920 All right, let's head now over to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:14.480 where Bloomberg's Balance of Power co host Joe Matthew has 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:19.320 an exclusive interview with the House Minority Leader, Hakim Jeffries, 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:21.040 and they'll be talking about healthcare. 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:24.200 Indeed, thanks for joining us live from Capitol Hill on 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:27.680 Bloomberg TV and Radio. On Joe Matthew with an exclusive 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:30.960 conversation with the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:34.120 Hakim Jeffries of New York. Leader Jeffries, thanks for being 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:35.080 back with us on Bloomberg. 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:35.760 It's good to see you. 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:38.760 One thing, Joe, good, pretty important ruling in the Supreme 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:40.839 Court when it comes to redistricting in the state of 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:43.400 Texas that I'd like to start with here. Its open 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:47.640 season apparently on redistricting. Does that mean every Democratic led 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:49.720 state in the country needs to redraw their maps? 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:53.080 Well, first of all, it's unfortunate that Supreme Court has 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:58.080 rubber stamp a racially jerry mandered extreme map that Donald 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:02.760 Trump ordered Texas republickeends to engineer as part of his 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:05.559 effort to try to rig the midterm elections in twenty 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:10.280 twenty six, but notwithstanding this adverse ruling, we're going to 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:13.000 continue to move forward and ensure that there is a 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:18.520 fair map across the country. California voters enacted Prop fifty, 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:20.959 and as a result, we'll have a fair map in 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:24.920 California with some additional opportunities to be competitive, and I 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:28.720 expect that you'll see other states across the country continue 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:29.320 to respond. 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:31.240 Will yours be one of them? Are you on the 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.040 phone with Governor Hokel today saying it's time to redraw 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:34.759 the New York map? 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:40.039 Well, the New York map has some particularities relative to 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:45.240 the Constitution that won't necessarily allow it to be revisited 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:49.240 in this particular cycle. But some voters have filed a 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:52.120 lawsuit in New York and we're monitoring that litigation closely 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:53.760 to see what the outcome may be. 0:01:53.960 --> 0:01:56.800 Okay, there's a question about whether you really need it, 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:00.640 Leader Jeffries. After the special election in Tennessee on Tuesday, 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:04.600 we saw a plus twenty two Trump districts go down 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:07.120 to a plus nine Trump district And you've got a 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:10.639 lot of armchair mathematicians out there suggesting that could meet 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:12.800 as many as thirty or thirty five seats for Democrats 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:13.400 in the midterms. 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:16.160 How do you see it, Well, Republicans know that if 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:18.640 the elections were held today, they would lose. That's the 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:21.760 reason why Donald Trump has decided to engage in this 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:25.720 extreme effort to jerrymander congressional maps all across the country, 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:28.200 and it's very unfortunate. Our view is that we're not 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:30.840 going to unilaterally disarm, and we have to ensure that 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:33.960 there's a fair map nationally across the board, so that 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:37.000 it's the voters who get to decide who is in 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:39.880 the majority after the November twenty, twenty sixth election. Part 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:42.440 of the challenge with Republicans is that they've broken all 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:44.799 of their promises. They indicated that they were going to 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:47.440 lower cost in fact lower costs on day one, costs 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.400 having gone down in America, costs have gone up housing 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:52.919 costs or through the roof, grocery prices through the roof, 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:56.119 electricity bills through the roof. And now, because my Republican 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:59.600 colleagues refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:02.440 we know tens of millions of people are about to 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:06.640 experience dramatically increase health care costs. Democrats are actually the 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:09.560 party focused on driving down the high cost of living. 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:11.560 So let's talk about a couple of those points of 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:14.600 leverage that you just pointed out, affordability and healthcare. Many 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:16.600 would argue that it's kind of the same story here. 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:20.920 President Trump has been saying that affordability is a Democrat hoax, 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:24.239 a Democrat con job. Does that mean you do not 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:28.400 have Republicans on board with you in reforming healthcare or 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:30.080 extending Obamacare subsidies? 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:34.240 It appears that way. It's unfortunate that the President's position, 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:38.560 which is the Republican parties position, is that the affordability 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:40.880 crisis in the United States of America is a con 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:43.400 job and it's a hoax. No, what was a con 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.640 job and hoax was the fact that Republicans spent all 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:50.040 of last year claiming that they were going to lower 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:52.400 the high cost of living in the United States of America, 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:56.880 that they were a party committed to addressing the inflationary 0:03:56.960 --> 0:03:59.600 pressure that the American people were under. That's all they 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:03.040 talked tobut out last year. But they lied to the voters. 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:05.920 That's the con job. They're lied. They absolutely lied to 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:08.840 the voters. Because there's no evidence throughout this year that 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:14.000 they've had any intention to actually address the affordability crisis 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:16.599 that exists. In fact, they now say it's all a hoax. 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:20.000 But everyday Americans when they go to the grocery store, 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:24.680 the supermarket, when they see their healthcare premiums dramatically increasing, 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:27.880 when they see the electricity bills that they have, which 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:30.760 are through the roof, in part because Republicans in their 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:35.160 one big Ugly Bill attacked the clean energy economy At 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:39.160 a time in America where we have growing power needs. 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:42.599 In terms of what we see with the expansion of 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:48.000 artificial intelligence, it's all extraordinary. So Republican leadership has made 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.720 it clear they have no intention to extend the Affordable 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:52.799 Care AC tax credits, and that's very unfortunate. 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:54.080 You know, if the White House would say hold on, 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:57.080 leader Jeffries. This president's been working over time to cut 0:04:57.120 --> 0:05:00.719 deals to lower the cost of prescription drugs, deserve credit 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:01.200 for that effort. 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:03.919 We haven't seen any evidence that prescription drug prices have 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:06.320 gone down in any meaningful way. What we have seen 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:09.080 that the Trump terrorist are out of control. They've increased 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:12.240 costs by thousands of dollars per year on everyday Americans, 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:17.000 and they've created an uncertain environment for businesses and corporations 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:20.760 throughout the country. And we know that uncertainty is one 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:25.280 of the biggest problems that American corporations and companies may face. 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:28.760 It's difficult to actually make investments when you have this 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:33.040 chaotic environment that has been visited upon the economy. 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:35.640 So let's talk about what you can get done before 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:38.239 the expiration of these subsidies at the end of the month. 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:42.039 A bill was introduced yesterday, a framework that was bipartisan. 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:45.440 A Democrat and a Republican Gotttheimer and Kiggins. It would 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:49.760 extend these subsidies for a year and put new callers 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:53.480 on eligibility. Is this a path to renewal in your eyes? 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:55.760 Well, we'll have to take a look at the particulars 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.920 in the four corners of that bill. Two hundred and 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:02.320 fourteen Democrats have signed the discharged position that will extend 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:04.919 the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years and 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:08.080 give the American people the certainty that they need in 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:12.039 order to move forward during these otherwise uncertain times. All 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:15.559 we need are four Republicans. They're two hundred and nineteen 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:17.440 of them. All we need are four House Republicans to 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:19.880 join us and we can extend the Affordable Care Act 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:21.680 tax credits. We also want to take a look at 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:23.760 what happens in the Senate. I'm thankful for lead to 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:28.480 Schumer and Senate Democrats who will put a bill forward 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:31.320 next week and force an up and down vote on 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:34.920 an extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits. We're 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:36.880 in this fight until we win this fight on behalf 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:40.640 of the American people, because in the wealthiest country in 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:42.919 the history of the world, it cannot be the case 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:47.040 that working class Americans and middle class Americans are unable 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:51.320 to afford to go see a doctor when they need one. 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:53.720 Are you in touch with the Speaker of the House 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:56.080 on This is Mike Johnson talking to you about a 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:59.480 potential vote after john fun promised a vote on healthcare 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:00.919 in the Senate for next Thursday. 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:03.760 You know, the big challenge with House Republicans has been 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:06.240 that they've adopted a my way of the highway approach. 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:09.600 They have zero interests in actually sitting down and finding 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:12.720 a bipartisan path forward. We've said from the very beginning 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:16.560 of this year and throughout the Trump Republicans shutdown, that 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:20.040 we will sit down with anyone, anytime, any place, here 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:22.560 in the Capitol, or go back to the White House 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.200 sit with the President to try to figure out how 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:29.040 we can fix our broken healthcare system and address the 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:33.320 Republican created healthcare crisis that's devastating people all across America. 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:37.520 They've refused repeatedly to sit down and even try to 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:41.840 find common ground, apparently because they really are uninterested in 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:45.720 dealing with an extension Intoffordable Care Act tax credits. Joe. 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:47.920 As you know, this is the same group of people 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:51.119 who have actually tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:54.320 more than seventy times over the last fifteen years. 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:55.960 So could we be in a world in which there's 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:58.400 a healthcare bill that passes the Senate and dies in 0:07:58.400 --> 0:07:58.800 the House. 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:01.280 Well, if there's a bill that as the Senate, there 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:05.440 will be tremendous pressure on Mike Johnson, Stieve Scalice and 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:07.800 House Republicans to bring that bill to the floor for 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:09.720 an up and down vote, and the votes will exist 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:12.640 in the House of Representatives. I call upon some of 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:16.960 my Republican colleagues, more traditional conservative colleagues, or the so 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:21.480 called swing seat Republicans, to actually press their leadership to 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:24.880 give the people of this country an up or down 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:28.960 vote on something meaningful that will extend the Affordable Care 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:29.760 Act tax credits. 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:33.600 Just lastly, President Trump today will be receiving we understand 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:38.720 the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize. Does Donald Trump deserve credit, 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:40.360 as he says, for ending eight wars? 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.520 Yeah, it's unclear what eight wars he's talking about. What 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:47.240 the American people clearly want to see from this president 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:51.560 is action related to the challenges that we face in 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:54.560 this country. Lowering the high cost of living, fixing our 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:59.240 broken healthcare system, making life better for everyday Americans. That's 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:03.240 the democratic commitment that we actually should deliver on the 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:08.480 promises that Republicans made to lower the high cost to 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:11.280 live in but refuse to address in a country that's 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:12.960 the wealthiest in the history of the world, but there 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:15.440 are far too many people who are struggling to live 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:21.320 paycheck to paycheck, can't thrive, can barely survive, and that 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:23.640 should not be the case in this great country. We 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:27.440 should allow for a situation where every single person who 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:31.000 works hard and plays by the rules can afford to 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:34.600 live a comfortable life, live the good life, good paying job, 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:37.600 good house and good health care, good education for your children, 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:40.559 and ultimately, at the end of the day, a good retirement. 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:42.920 That's the American dream. We need to bring it to 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:44.760 life for every single. 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:47.640 American Democratic leader in the House. Hockeim Jeffrey's leader. Thank 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:49.400 you for being with us today. Once again on Bloomberg. 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:49.960 Thank you.